The
state legislature is heavily Republican, and will likely have a free
hand to redistrict (within the law) as they wish. During the last
redistricting, the legislature was fairly evenly split, with
Republicans holding a narrow margin in the Senate, and Democrats an
even narrower margin in the House. There was also a Democratic
Governor. Kansas lost one district after the 1990 census, and
Republican incumbents were forced into primaries against one another.

In
2000, with lopsided control of the House and Senate, and a Republican
Governor, Republicans have a strong advantage and could make things
difficult for the Democrat’s sole U.S. Member Dennis Moore.

There
is still a controversy surrounding Kansas' adjustment of the U.S.
census figures to exclude certain military personnel and college
students. There is also likely to be conflict between urban and rural
interests.

Legal Issues

A
U.S. district court found the Kansas legislature's congressional plan
to be unconstitutional on equal population grounds. The overall
population deviation of the legislature's plan was 0.94 percent. The
court rejected Kansas' stated desire to maintain county lines within
individual congressional districts. A modified plan was adopted by the
court with an overall deviation of 0.01 percent (69 people).

Legislation/Reform Efforts

In
1999-2000, legislation was considered that would have amended the
Kansas Constitution and lifted the requirement to adjust census figures
to exclude nonresident military personnel and students.

Irregularly Shaped DistrictNone.

Kansas’ 4 districts generally follow county lines, though none of the districts are composed exclusively of whole counties.